Voices of people, men and women, keeps echoing within the mind. The voices just keeps pestering until it gradually becomes unbearable for Akane, who holds her desire to scream within her lungs. Laughters, whispers, humming, and all sorts of distorted noises feels like they're all smashing and piercing her at once.
"Look at him smiling and laughing like a kid"
"He's always like this. Trying to be heroic and gaining praises"
"Why don't he mind his own business?"
"Sooner or later, this bastard will take advantage of the others' trust"
"I can't stand him. Always acting humble with how great he is"
Spiteful and venomous words born from selfish jealousy throbs the familiar feeling of burning hate within Akane. The emotion keeps pulsing and pulsing until it makes her hands tremble. The effect isn't fear...but an absolute desire to spill their blood to make them fall silent for the rest of eternity.
"... did nothing wrong"
A passing by child eavesdrops on the conversation, her eyes dilated in disbelief and disgust at supposed "grown ups" spitting their childish jealousy towards an unknown man.
"He never sought anything. Everything what he did...because they asked him for help..."
The child bites her shaking lips, disappointed at the so-called "adults" bearing petty jealousy for someone who is genuinely good-hearted. Even as a child, she is aware on how no matter how "good" you live in the world, even for the sake of others, people would always find malice and trivial things to point their blame on.
"What is this am I seeing?" Akane rubs her eyes, faintly seeing figures in the mist
Strong winds pushes Akane away, but she perseveres to reached push through the force seemingly denying her on purpose. Deafening voices almost lost in the neverending empty world weighs her down, but she bites her lower lip and endure it all. She keeps enduring and enduring until a familiar scenery stretches out before her.
"What's this? Where am I? This feeling...is nostalgia. That's strange..."
Akane stretches out her hand, realizing she is in her original body. Her real body is still lost but her consciousness continues to live on so long as Shinobu does. Within the world of the mind she has been rejecting for two hundred years, her hearts pumps unknown warm feeling of comfort and nostalgia with every beat.
"Something isn't right. I don't bother with my surroundings or anyone...but this is making me tremble"
Her emotions remain, but to her such things is irrelevant with her life. For so long, she moves without meaningful aspirations, just her instinct to kill in order to survive.
"A house? My house. Wait...why did I say that? Who's that?" Akane only keeps asking herself
At the faint snow dropping by the second, a man brings home firewood with a child resembling Akane herself greeting him in full excitement. The small child immediately runs back inside the house, grabbing the nearest fabric she can find before running back to friendly-looking man.
"Dad, when I can learn those swings of yours?" The child curiously asks while wiping away the dirt on his face
"Ah...well...you're still too small for that" The father nervously laughs
"I wanna try it! You like breathe in and go cut off four trees at once" The child flails her arms
"Well, I haven't fully mastered it even during my prime...and my retirement. I don't regret it since you came into the world back then. Aaaah, I remember being so happy holding you for the first time"
"Show it to me again, dad! I want to see how you go swoosh swoosh and really shadowy"
"My technique is not for show. One form can cut off three heads at once"
The child pouts when her father firmly refuses her nearly irresistible request. If it's other requests, she would give in to his child's enthusiastic and hope-filled eyes, but his ability might accidentally harm her. As a father, he would never risk the safety of his only child.
"How come yours is really dark while the old man moves airy?"
"Hahaha. We all have our own styles that are derived from the main ones. When you're twice as big, I will teach it to you"
Carefully laying down the firewood on his back, he lifts the excitable and innocent child, who swings her arms as if she's imagining she's flying. The two barely survives their everyday life, but they are oddly content with what they have. Akane frowns in confusion seeing the father gazes at the child he lifts above him with the pure and undying love of a parent.
"Dad...Da...d - Ggh! No, no, no, no! I...have...no family. For two hundred years...I have no-"
Akane shakes her head and constantly rejects the flowing emotions after living for a long time without the need for memories barely familiar to her. Nostalgia would sometimes try to reach her, but her heart and mind are both unrecognizable to who she used to be.
"...!"
Shinobu collapses to the ground with her cheek hitting the cold hardened soil conditioned by the forest surrounding her. A splitting ache briefly paralyzes her just for about a few seconds.
"Ugh! Akane...I told you to stop overtaking without notice. It always gives me a splitting headache"
There's something I wanted to ask Tamayo the other day. I really couldn't do it if you're in the front
"Still...we agreed you can forcibly switch if our lives are in danger" Shinobu shakes her head
We've gotten a bit far, huh. It felt like just yesterday that you wanted to rip me out of your body...
"That was when you're still acting like any other demons: selfish and bloodthirsty"
I still can't believe you no longer want me dead after everything I've done...
"I wouldn't say I fully forgive you, but I learned to tolerate you for our survival. Honestly, I still think you're still some sort of parasite"
We're in a symbiotic relationship at best. I lend you my strength so we both don't die because I'm just a voice inside your head now
Their current situation is unwanted, but they learn to coexist with each for the sake of their arrival. Shinobu is weak for a newly made demon, but Akane is stronger than regular demons after surviving for two hundred years. Without her original body, Akane has no choice but to channel what remains of her strength to Shinobu.
"...Akane, you said you don't remember your old life, right?"
Yeah. I don't remember anything other than knowing by instinct that my Breathing technique is from my human life
"I've been having dreams. In it, I keep seeing a village that I don't recognize"
Are you trying to say it's from my past? If I can't even remember it, how can you?
"The only reason I can think of is the same mystery to why your consciousness still exists within mine even if your body was torn apart and transplanted to me"
I was in a village when I met shishou...but I couldn't remember why and how. I think I used to be aware of who I was...until it faded away
"You've been a demon for two hundred years after all. Constantly fighting and killing to grow even stronger..."
Since I don't have much motivation, I followed Akaza-san's advise to seek out worthy opponents and polish my skills
Akane grows empty and without purpose with every day that passes during her life as a wandering demon. After parting ways with her mentor, she finds no reason to look forward for tomorrow with the lack of interests. As if she's desperate to find any purpose, she follows the advise of others without questioning to why she should even follow it...save for a certain annoying someone with a false smile.
"In my dream, I saw you covered in blood while holding a katana. A man screamed and begged for forgiveness...as he confess for being a culprit to something"
Humans tend to reflect on their sins and regrets at the face of death. Sometimes they just start blaming and cursing everyone else. That's why I couldn't stand them
"A village. I saw the village with a gentle man and a child who could possibly be you"
Shinobu? You...saw it too...
"I can't exactly tell where it is. Running around trying to find it would be pointless since I'm sure it doesn't exist anymore"
...I know where it is
Within the consciousness that connects the two, Akane reluctantly responds to Shinobu's intrigue regarding Akane's supposed human memories. It's more likely the memories belong to Akane seeing a younger version of her is cheerfully living as a human in a village centuries ago.
The following night
The one in Akane's dream continues to exist even after two hundred years...but the old village her old life once knows are nothing but remnants of the past. The intact ruins displays evidence that the last time the location is inhabited about is ten years ago..not single human or living being is present, just gathering dusts and rats occupying the houses with furnitures remaining as evidence that life once thrived there.
"How do you know this was the same village where you supposedly came from?" Shinobu wipes the dust with her two fingers
The original village remained during my early years as a demon. Following the broken pieces in my dreams, I kept coming back here...but gained nothing
"You're instinctively coming back here without knowing really why, huh. It must felt frustrating"
Yeah, but I didn't really care back then. I don't memories to survive in the world after all...
"...but that thinking changed, didn't it? Otherwise, you wouldn't guide me here without a second thought"
I still don't know. For so long I lived without ever thinking about who I was before. In fact, I didn't even know I used to be human until I met shishou
Nothing remains of what can lead them to Akane's old life. It's almost impossible now since centuries passed ever since she started living as a demon. What only remains is the instinctive nostalgia of a once peaceful life.
Augh...I don't feel so good...
"Akane-!"
Akane's discomfort following a stinging headache, paralyzes Shinobu that she almost collapses to ground. Shinobu tries to relief the pain by pressing her hand to her temple while the other is pressintt the ground, preventing her from directly hitting the dead soil.
"W-wait, it wasn't my fault. I was just following them"
The shaking voice of desperate man pleading and howling in pain rings out to every corner of her mind.
"Akane, what am I hearing all of a sudden?"
...
"Akane...?"
The demon who wouldn't stop talking to her day and night now completely falls silent as if she's no longer present within their shared consciousness. Shinobu would think that, but she can still sense Akane still being merged with her, but the demon's sudden absence oddly brings out an unusual cause of concern for Shinobu.
"...?!"
Shinobu turns to her left only to realize her surroundings have completely changed. The whole village is now exactly similar as her memories, but the humans living there are now painting the village with their own blood.
"Akane!" Shinobu calls out for her
Again, the demon forcibly merged with her is eerily silent. Shinobu wouldn't mind a moment of silence, but Akane is in discomfort earlier before mysteriously grows unresponsive.
"This isn't real...but it feels like...I'm reliving the exact moment..."
The realistic scenario clearly belongs to Akane's memories, but Shinobu can sense every moment and every inch of everything. She compares this sensation as being present when the memory takes place before.
"Aka...ne...?"
What seems to be Akane herself wearing a normal kimono, slowly regains consciousness and weakly pushes her shaking arms to lift the rest of her body from a thin pool of blood beneath her. There isn't a speck of life in her eyes and not even caring that fresh and nauseating stench of blood covers her from head to toe.
"H...huh? What is...this place?" Akane lazily turns her head and realizes there's a sword in her hand
"You finally regained your senses. That was quicker than I thought" Kokushibou scoffs
"...And you are...?" Akane tilts her head
The Akane in front of Shinobu right now is such a confused and exhausted state that she blankly stares at the towering demon with six eyes and a will-crushing pressure. In fact, she's curious to why a random man appears right before her as if he is expecting something.
"You don't remember, huh. I'm the one who showed you a new path in life. You should be thankful that you've succeeded after being accepted by his blood"
"W...What...?" Akane drops her sword in confusion
"Hmph. This is the start of a possible new path for you...should you survive longer than the disappointments everywhere"
"New...path?"
"You've gained a curse after you overwhelmed your fragile human body with your resolve to live without ever letting go of that sword. I simply mended that problem away" Kokushibou points at Akane's cheek
"I don't really understand..." Akane is still exhausted
"What I did was to see whether you're a potential or a waste. Well, it will only be proven...if you can overcome others like you"
Kokushibou focuses all six eyes on the still confused and drowsy Akane, who remains unfazed the mutilated corpses and blood splatters at each corner of the village.
"What...happened to me?" Akane realizes she has grown fangs and claws
"You're a demon now much like me. I never thought I'd see such a small one kill humans like a demon. The intense bloodlust on your eyes as your roars drown their screams..." Kokushibou smiles
"Ah...what...?" Akane seems to have no recollection of the events
"It doesn't matter now. You overcame your weak human body and gained a superior one. Now you can perfect your technique if you can overcome the others and the demon slayers that will hunt you from now on"
The scenario disperses right in front of Shinobu and the color begins to fade while she helplessly tries to comprehend about the memory.
"...!" Shinobu gasps for air
Shinobu's first reaction is to immediately stand up straight again and positions herself since she's always in high alert for possible ambushes. Tonight, only the rats and wandering animals fill the lifeless village while she stands in the middle, confused.
Shinobu...
"Akane? What happened to you? I saw something while you were completely quiet"
I kind of saw it too. That was back when I first met shishou...
"The village...was covered in blood back then..."
I won't be surprised if I killed people when I became a demon...
"Akane..."
Can we leave for now? I'll feel worse if I linger here...
"Then we'll come back some other time"
Shinobu doesn't notice that she's being both concerned and considerate with the demon she once sees with burning resentment. If it's her, then she would search for possible remnants of the original village, but Akane's discomfort is mildly echoing to Shinobu as well with how they share the same body.
Somewhere else
Giyuu and Tanjiro rushes toward the area where Tanjiro catches a thick scent of a demon near a forest. Without a second thought, Giyuu hastily makes his way to the area and draws his nichirin sword.
"That's...!" Giyuu immediately assumes as a battle stance
"That haori? The Water Pillar?"
A man in his late twenties wearing dark blue kimono with faint diamond pattern throws away the disintegrating demon head to the side without the slightest. He cracks his neck and prepares to engage the Water Pillar with full excitement and swings his sword at the empty space in front of him.
"Don't tell me you're a Breath user too?" Giyuu frowns
"Too? Who else are running around beside me? I'll kill them too"
"The mask demon swordswoman"
"Ah, the one with the butterfly haori" The demon smirks
"...?!"
"She's infamous now for killing and feeding on her own kind rather than kill humans"
The demon with short messy black hair raises his sword, taking upon the battle stance of what appears to be a proper swordsman rather than a typical bloodthirsty demon. Giyuu widens his eyes at the rare sight of a demon displaying behavior of what could be from his former human life.
"This demon..." Tanjiro arrives at the scene
"Tanjiro, stay back. I'll take care of this one" Giyuu immediately tells him
(The demon I believe to be Shinobu-san has two scents. Their sorrow runs deep...but they wouldn't remember it as demons)
It seems impossible since the demon has little knowledge about the demon swordswoman, but Tanjiro's scent is never mistaken.
"You must be a skilled swordsman before becoming a demon"
"Perhaps you're right about that, Pillar"
"If you're aware that you're a demon, then why keep living like this?"
"There's something I must do first"
"As a demon slayer, I must keep you from harming others no matter what your goal is"
Giyuu somewhat sympathizes with the longing and deep sorrow carved in the demon's dark orange eyes, but he cannot allow demons like him to run freely and kill more humans in the process.
"Come at me, demon slayer!" The demon roars
Giyuu pulls back his arms and swings his nichirin sword right before the demon can swing his own sword. Under the faint moonlight, the clash of two skilled swordsmen create enough force to spark between them. If he is an ordinary demons the battle would have been over in mere minutes, but Giyuu is against a fellow swordsman, despite being a demon.
"With each swing, it's like that demon's technique is like it's mimicking the flow of water" Tanjiro swallows his breath
The demon reflects Giyuu's own movements against him, making the two demon slayers present unsure whether it's just a normal sword style or an unusual Breathing form. Unlike Giyuu's flowing blue water, Tanjiro imagines the demon reflecting an unknown flowing black style.
"Monjiro!" Inosuke runs screaming
"Inosuke?! Where have you been?" Tanjiro shakes his head in surprise
"My skin was itching, so I decided to follow the direction of where it came from"
"You shouldn't run off like that, you know. What if you faced a stronger demon?"
"Huh?! I'll chop off their heads. Besides, it's a familiar itch so I ran after it...but I couldn't find any demons to chop" Inosuke grunts
"Inosuke-"
Tanjiro's relief on how Inosuke isn't injured or seriously hurt during the short time he suddenly disappears is interrupted by the pained grunt of the demon hitting the solid ground. A barely exhausted Giyuu wipes his forehead and takes a soft sigh of relief.
"Go rip him to pieces, half-half haori!" Inosuke repeatedly jumps
The demon grits his teeth and pushes himself back up while Giyuu oddly waits for him to recover rather than finish him while he's vulnerable. Tanjiro couldn't say anything at how the situation unfolds, switching his sights between Giyuu and the already frustrated demon.
"I can't fall yet. There's someone...I need to find..." The demon grunts
"Sorry, but I have to end you here" Giyuu pulls back his left leg and arms
"Breath of..."
"What?!"
Giyuu immediately switches his stance seeing his opponent attempting a desperate attempt to save himself one last time while Tanjiro and Inosuke draw their own blades. The demon is no more than an animal backed into a corner, so he draws more of his strength against a demon's worst opponent - a Pillar.
"I won't allow myself to be killed just yet!"
The demon's desperation to live is a scent that's not a simple fear of death. Tanjiro's catches the emotion through his enhanced sense of smell and somehow pities his desire to reach a goal alive. There's an unknown goal ahead of him that he has been longing for so long, yet his own demon nature is a burden.
"Not until I find her!"
The berserk demon changes his attack from a supposed swing to plunging his blade to the ground. The demon screams on top of his lungs while his sclera are both tainted by his own blood and bursts out of his eyes. Thick blackened blood emerges from the soil where his plunges his blades then spreads throughout all directions, forcing the three to distance themselves.
The surroundings grow quiet for a minute or so...
Inosuke blindly flails his serrated blades in front of him while Tanjiro reflexively blocks his sight with both of his arms. Giyuu ends up jumping back and protecting his own vision before he can land a swing.
"He's gone?" Tanjiro shakes his head in disbelief
"What? The ugly bastard got away!" Inosuke fumes and stomps the ground
"Giyuu-san, what was that just now?"
"It's most likely a Blood Demon Art than a Breathing technique. He escaped..." Giyuu clicks his tongue
"I still smell him. He ran over that direction" Tanjiro points at the direction leading to the nearest mountain
"Lead the way!"
The two hastily leaves before the demon distance himself long enough for Tanjiro to lose his scent while a startled Inosuke starts running after them, fuming that he is going to be left behind again shortly after he arrived earlier.
"How far is he, Tanjiro?" Giyuu leaps from branch to branch
"You're closing to him, Giyuu-san"
Tanjiro tries his best to match Giyuu's speed, constantly panting since both of them are pushing their legs to their limit just to finish off the demon for good this time. Inosuke, on the other hand, sloppily chased after the two and even screaming to motivate himself.
"Aaaah! Don't you dare leave me behind!" Inosuke shakes his fist
Giyuu and Tanjiro are too far to Inosuke right now that they couldn't hear the faintest of his protests and complaints, completely focusing on preventing the demon from escaping.
"There he is!" Tanjiro catches the demon in his sights
"I won't go easy on you this time!" Giyuu draws his sword
"Gggrrr! They just won't go away-"
Giyuu not only easily slices through the leaves and branches hindering his path, he manages to predict his attack to directly slice the demon's legs off in one fell swoop. Losing his balance in mid-air and losing his legs in the process, the demon smashes through the branches before breaking his back after falling to the ground. The three surrounds him with Giyuu preparing to deal the fatal blow to avoid creating a possible future mistake.
"That's as far as you can go, demon slayers..." An unknown voice echoes
"...!"
A calm yet sinister voices briefly startles both the three demon slayers and immobilized demon as cold malicious air engulfs all of them right before they know it.
"Blood Demon Art: Encroaching centipede fangs"
"...!"
It's as if hundred legged centipedes coil around every corner and inch of their limbs, literally sensing the itching taps of countless legs, worse for someone like Inosuke whose skin is sensitive to the danger. Behind his boar mask, he roughly bites his own lip in order to suppress his disgusted shriek.
"Sorry about that~ I'm still not used to this new sample I acquired"
A demon with medium length slick black hair wearing his dark purple kimono in a topless manner childishly speaks to the paralyzed demon slayers. Despite his easygoing and cheerful impression, all three can sense that he is a demon more dangerous than the one Giyuu is about to kill.
"I am the real Hirokuma, the real body this time. It's been a while, Water Pillar" Hirokuma winks
"I don't believe we met" Giyuu struggles to move his arms
"Oh, we did. Remember the first time you met the masked swordswoman? I was the one controlling the grotesque flesh you were chasing alongside the Flame Pillar"
"...?!"
About a month ago, Giyuu indeed recalls pursuing after a mutated demon who uses disposable copies to stall both him and Kyoujurou. He would never expect there is even a real body or he would coincidentally meet the demon again.
(What is this smell? It's so mixed up that I feel nauseas. This demon isn't only filled with bloodlust but smells like rotten corpses stored in one place)
The thick and inescapable scent of piled of bloody corpses alone is enough to immobilize Tanjiro. In fact, the scent is so strong that it blocks out any nearby scent. Not only the demon Hirokuma has a lot of human victims but possibly demon ones as well with how Tanjiro has difficulty distinguishing the scent.
"How lucky to meet you while I'm relaxing in this fine evening. I wonder if I can use you too since you're skills are greatly impressive" Hirokuma licks his lips
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I once used my extensions to get a dead Pillar for me a few months ago. She turned out fine...but I forgot about the brat I infused to her" Hirokuma's sharp eyes leers with dismay
"Dead Pillar? She? Hey...are you the one...who killed the Pillar...with a butterfly haori?" Giyuu's hand holding his sword trembles
"Oh, you know that Pillar? Yeah, I used her corpse for my own interests. I'm sorry I ended up slicing her open and fusing some parts to her corpse" Hirokuma sarcastically apologizes
"So it was you. Then...I'll slice every part of you...and let you burn in the sunlight" Giyuu barely suppresses his emotions.
Giyuu's hostility and bloodlust rises that even Inosuke is intimidated seeing the usually calm and stoic Giyuu displaying controlled anger even if his hands are itching to rend Hirokuma's flesh in the most painful way possible.
"Oh, so you must think that's she - I see, I see. You want to avenge the dead? For what reason exactly? To make yourself feel better after you repeatedly lamented on how you weren't there to save her?" Hirokuma giggles
"That Pillar you killed, did you bring her back as a demon?" Giyuu manages to move one of his arms
"I can't say for certain~ I mean she was so weak that Akane-chan had to be weakened from an earlier fight to be beaten by her. A puny insect can be easily swept and torn apart by the wind after all, so she's mostly likely dead along with the failed batches before her"
"You killed so many humans but you also toyed with their corpses!" Tanjiro couldn't restrain his anger
"What about it? I'm a curious person after all. That's why that man kind of hired me to test and show the results of his curiosity"
"Tanjiro, that demon is mine to kill alone" Giyuu tells Tanjiro
"Kill me? You can't even break free from a Blood Demon Art I just integrated a week ago. I have to inform you this body has improved just for demon slayers like you"
Hirokuma stretches out his arms, proudly displaying his above average build with some symbols on his chest and arms. The one on back of his hands slowly reveals a tattoo on what seems to be a face in complete agony. His sharp yet confident expression indirectly taunts Giyuu, who has one reason for targeting and hunting him.
"Affection is such an awful thing, huh. It blindly wraps your reason until you're already one step closer to your grave"
Hirokuma snaps his fingers , tightening the grip of his unseen Blood Demon Art and even puncturing there limbs, causing immense pain and suffocation.
"Hirokuma...you mentioned...Akane..." The demon swordsman stands up after fully regenerating his legs
"It's the Wind Breath using brat that used to follow Kokushibou around. What's the matter, Kazuto?"
"Tch. It must be my imagination..." Kazuto, the demon swordsman, turns away
"Leaving already?"
"I lost my appetite the moment you arrived. I'm going to hunt where I don't see your face"
"Hahaha. Suit yourself" Hirokuma waves goodbye
The demon swordsman spits in disgust, the visible hostility and personal resentment is more of an amusement for someone apathetic and dangerously curious like Hirokuma. He wastes no time and leaps outside of the battle while Hirokuma cheerfully waves goodbye again. The supposed friendliness and laid-back attitude is just a facade for someone as sadistic as him, which is why other demons are either cautious or disgusted towards him.
"The Water Pillar. You could be an interesting specimen due to your potential, but I think you're a better bait for a certain someone...since she's the dominant one" Hirokuma nods
"...?"
"...but maybe not right now. She's nowhere to be found, and I don't know where she ran off to ever since I succeeded in the operation" Hirokuma looks everywhere
"I won't let you run away...not when...I finally found the one responsible..."
"What a familiar scene. Perhaps this was something from back when I was human? Well, that's long and gone" Hirokuma shrugs his shoulders
Blood spills from the countless punctures in their body, but Giyuu directs his pain away for his sheer desire to slowly kill the demon in a way that even his confident and sadistic expression is wiped out and replaced with regret.
"We'll see each other again, Water Pillar. I'm off to see on what became of them. Maybe a new demon is born out of them. One who is silently raging"
Hirokuma childishly waves goodbye while three demon slayers still struggles to move when a single step or lift their arms from the tightening grip of unseen centipedes. Giyuu grits his teeth and continues to seal his anger behind his stoic expression. Hirokuma isn't ignorant of Giyuu's sole reason to kill him, but he smiles in anticipation with how he can be entertained with a potential pawn with a full desire to decapitate him.
I'd like to make my move now, but I'll let Gyuutarou and Daki handle those pair while I take notes of the result...
Chapter 17: Tanjiro's group accompanies Tengen to the red light district for a special mission, but they aren't the only ones there. Conflicted on whether to be completely against the demons, Akane overtakes Shinobu once again when she encounters Upper Moon six.